Japan PM Shinzo Abe slams Obama over “despicable” Okinawa murder

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe publicly chastised President Obama Wednesday over the recent murder of a woman in Okinawa, which Japanese police have linked to an American worker at a U.S. military base.

“At the outset of our small group discussion, I firmly launched a protest against President Obama as the Japanese prime minister with regards to the most recent case in Okinawa,” Abe said at a press conference with Mr. Obama, shortly after the two leaders’ bilateral G7 summit meeting in Shima, Japan. “I feel profound resentment against this self-centered and absolutely despicable crime,” adding that the case has shocked not just Okinawa but all of Japan.

“I convey to the president that such feelings of the Japanese people should be sincerely taken to heart,” Abe continued. “I also urge the United States to make sure to take effective and thorough means to prevent a recurrence and rigorously and strictly address the situation.”